Dennis Wheatley - The wanton princess

As soon as he had finished, the Russian said. 'Mr. Brook, I must warn you that you are courting very grave danger. Should the faintest suspicion of your intentions get out you would find yourself locked up in a fortress for life.'

Roger smiled, ‘I am aware of that, sir; and having had some experience of similar affairs you may be sure that I shall exercise the utmost caution. But, I pray you. tell me your view of the prospects of achieving such a coup.'

'Many people would welcome it. There can be no doubt about that. His Imperial Majesty is mad beyond question, and now dangerously so. For the sake of Russia he should be deposed. In fact if he is not, the country will be utterly ruined. I take it you are acquainted with the history of his short reign?'

'As far as a foreigner can be, sir. I know, of course, that he began by being ardently anti-French and sent his army under your great General, Suvoroff, to reconquer Italy; then, after Suvoroff's brilliantly successful campaign, the Emperor of Austria so misused his army that the Czar broke with the Austrians and recalled his forces. After the breach ...'

'Do you know what has happened to General Suvoroff since?' the Count put in.

'No, sir, I have no idea.'

'When he was bringing his army back to Russia, His Imperial Majesty decreed that the General's entry into St. Petersburg should be a triumph equal to that any Caesar had enjoyed, made him a present of many thousands of serfs and loaded him with decorations and jewels. When Suvoroff reached Riga he received a despatch by courier. It told him that the Czar had deprived him of the command of the army, of his rank as a Field Marshal, of all his decorations and of all his property. And this without any reason what­soever. Suvoroff followed his army back a broken man. He refuses to see anyone or receive help from his friends, and now lies dying in a hovel.’

'Can this be true?' Roger exclaimed aghast. 'The great Suvoroff! The Empress Catherine's most successful General! The hero that all Russia has taken to its heart! I wonder that the whole army did not mutiny at such treatment of its beloved veteran leader.'

Vorontzoff shrugged, "Tis true enough, and it's not that alone that the army has to complain about. Formerly the troops wore a comfortable uniform suited to campaigning in all weathers: a pair of roomy pantaloons with the ends tucked into boots of soft leather, a loose jacket and hair cut short at the back of the neck below a round helmet. Under such a costume they could wear either thick underclothes or only a thin shirt as was best suited to the climate. But our crazy Czar has altered all that. He has put them into uni­forms of the German pattern, such as he designed for his Marines at Gatshina. Now they must wear tight tail coats and skin-tight breeches, whether or not they shiver in the cold, long gaiters that cramp the legs, tall shakos that do not balance easily on the head and, a thing they hate above all, grow their back hair long then bedaub it with grease and flour to make it into a queue.'

'Then 'tis certain we'd meet with no opposition from the army.'

'From the army. no. But it is scattered far and wide. The capital is garrisoned by the Brigade of Guards. There are ten thousand of them and the majority of the officers and non­-commissioned officers were formerly Gatshina Marines, so are loyal to the Emperor.'

'Then,' said Roger, 'if 'tis to be done at all, as I expected, it will have to be concerted within the Palace and the troops presented with a fait accompli. What is the situation there?'

Vorontzoff sadly shook his head. 'In recent years it has changed from a gay and happy meeting place, where the Empress Catherine gave a warmer welcome to artists, philosophers and literary men than they received at any other Court in Europe, into a vast, gloomy fortress hedged about with every form of defence against surprise attack. And through the empty corridors there now stalk bigotry, suspi­cion, cruelty and fear.'

'Your description implies that the Czar already fears that the people may revolt against him.'

'I imagine so; why otherwise these defences he has caused to be erected round his palace? One thing is certain. Fearing the same fate that befell his father may overtake him, he is now suspicious of everyone—even of his wife and sons.'

'Think you, sir, that they might be glad to sec him put where he can do no further harm, and so be inclined to assist us?'

‘I greatly doubt it. The Czarina Maria has suffered much. While at Gatshina he used to keep her sitting for hours upon a horse, often in pouring rain, upon a hill-top, simply as a marker of the place he wished his Marines to attack in some mock battle. She is one of the most lovely women at the Court of St. Petersburg, but he pays her scant attention. Nevertheless, she is of a faithful disposition and I think it unlikely that she would ever participate in a conspiracy against him. As for his sons, the Czarevitch is a charming young man. He could become an admirable ruler, but he is of such an upright nature that I feel sure he would not lend himself to deposing his father. His brother, the Grand Duke Constantine, I urge you to beware of. He is a fool and a loud­mouthed braggart, so all the odds are that by some indiscre­tion he would betray you.'

'What of Mademoiselle Niledoff?' Roger asked. ‘I have heard it said that after having been the Czar's mistress for many years she has recently been displaced by a Made­moiselle Lopukhina. Out of jealousy, might she not perhaps give us her aid?'

'Have you ever met her?' the Count enquired with a smile.

'No, sir. I was little more than a youth when last in St. Petersburg, and that was near thirteen years ago.'

'You have lost nothing then. She is ugly and diminutive; squints, spits while she is talking and swears like a trooper. Apparently such conduct appeals to our military-minded master and after a day's manoeuvres they often get drunk together. But despite the Czar's new fancy for the Lopukhina, the Niledorf still has a hold on him; and without him she would be nothing, so it would be ill-advised to approach her.'

'Has he men favourites as well as women?'

'Indeed, yes. Apparently it gives him pleasure to raise up low-born servants and watch them being insolent to their betters. There is one in particular, his Turkish barber, a man named Ivan Pavlovitch. The fellow was a slave brought up in his house but now the Czar will do nothing that does not meet with this creature's approval, and has actually made him a Privy Councillor.'

'What of his Ministers, sir? Do you believe them to be loyal to him?"

'They would be as mad as he is did they not wish for a change of master. When in his presence the unpredictability of his mind keeps them in a state of constant fear. On being received in audience, should they fail to kiss his hand so fervidly that the smack of their lips on it is heard throughout the chamber he may impute to them a secret reluctance to pay him proper homage, fly into one of his violent rages and instantly deprive them of their fortunes. During this past year he has sent not a few but hundreds of officials into exile.'

'That being so there must be much suitable material to our hand.'

Vorontzoff shook his head, 'Perhaps to yours, Mr. Brook; but not to "ours". You must not count on my aid in this, because my circumstances are peculiar. Under the Emperor Peter I was a Minister and served him faithfully. I played no part in the coup d'etat which led to his death, neither did I support his wife Catherine's usurpation. For that she never forgave me: so during her reign I lived in retirement. Upon the present Czar's coming to the throne, he recalled my loyalty to his father and on that account behaved most hand­somely to my house, showering both myself and my brother with rich gifts.'